Cupcake Inspirations Challenge 307

Hello there! Can you believe we're nearing the end of April already? Geez! Where has the month gone! This week we have a great theme challenge for you at Cupcake Inspirations... Spring!

This week's sponsor is Limited Runs Digital Stamps. Nikki has created the most gorgeous image for this challenge! I decided to try a different route and used 2 Blooms instead.

The DEEtails:

This card evolved in an interesting way because I honestly couldn't remember what I had in mind when I chose my image for the challenge. Haha. I decided to enlarge the digi image and cut out only one of the two blooms. I colored it in with my Stampin' Blendabilities Markers. My colors are a bit limited, which is part of the reason for this color combination. I layered some punched circles in Basic Gray and Smoky Slate. The sentiment was stamped in VersaMark ink and embossed it in Smoky Slate. The background is the Sheer Perfection Designer Vellum Stack layered onto some Hello Honey Cardstock. This stuff is gorgeous! I can't wait to use more!

Paper: Basic Gray Cardstock, Hello Honey Cardstock, Neenah Solar White 80# Cardstock, Sheer Perfection Designer Vellum Stack, Smoky Slate Cardstock
Stamps: 2 Blooms (Limited Runs Digital Stamps), Four You 
Ink: VersaMark
Embellishments: Smoky Slate Stampin' Emboss Powder
Tools: 1 3/4" Circle Punch, 2" Circle Punchheat tool, Stampin' Dimmensionals

Now stop over at The Cupcake Inspirations blog and check out what the rest of the Sweeties have created. I hope you'll play with along with us this week!

What I Wore

Happy Wednesday! It's time for another edition of What I Wore. I actually have two weeks of outfits to share with you today.

DAY ONE

dress: old navy (similar) / camisole: american eagle / necklace: old pearls / bracelet: coach

Tuesday was our first day back after Spring Break. 

 DAY TWO

dress: olsenboye / cardigan: forever 21 / camisole: american eagle / necklace: ???

I was clearly in a bit of a navy mood at the beginning of the week :)

DAY THREE

dress: max studio / cardigan: loft / scarf: target

It was kind of chilly that day, hence the scarf and cardigan!

DAY FOUR

dress: george / cardigan: new york & co. / necklace: ???

WEEKEND

shirt: ralph lauren factory / leggings: target / necklace: loft outlet

 ::: week two :::

DAY ONE

dress: sweet storm / cardigan: old navy / necklace: kate spade / bracelet: kate spade

DAY TWO

dress: max studio / cardigan: target / scarf: target

Tuesday was a rainy day, so I paired this outfit with my favorite rain boots. 

DAY THREE

dress: old navy / cardigan: old navy / necklace: groopdealz

I was actually out sick on Wednesday, so Day 3 for me was Thursday... Boy this was a long week!

DAY FOUR

shirt: old navy (similar) / leggings: tommy hilfiger / necklace: kate spade

WEEKEND

shirt: polo ralph lauren / leggings: kate spade / necklace: groopdealz

Fluttering By to Say Thanks

Hope your day is going well so far. I'm here today sharing a card that I made for the Waffle Flower Challenge. I've been eyeing their challenges for a while, but this is my first time every playing along. This color palette was quite intriguing so I had to try it out.

DEEtails:

It was a bit of a challenge for me to make sure that each color was added to the card in a deliberate way. I'm really happy with how it turned out although I wish that I had my sewing machine handy cause I would have really liked to stitch up the side edges of the Lost Lagoon layer. I love the bit of Tangelo Twist peeking out underneath the Lost Lagoon. My next layer was a bit of Something Borrowed Designer Series Paper and then a couple of butterflies stamped in Baked Brown Sugar. I added a fun patterned Polaroid style frame die cut from Sycamore Street Designer Series Paper. The frame was mounted on some coaster board to give it a bit of dimension. Then I added on another butterfly with some Stampin' Dimensionals and the fabulous die cut sentiment. Of course a few sequins sprinkled across to finish things. I love these colors! The Stampin' Up In Colors were perfect for this challenge!

Paper: Blackberry Bliss Cardstock, Coaster Board, Neenah Solar White 80# Cardstock, In Color 2013-2015 Designer Series Paper Stack, Something Borrowed Designer Series Paper, Sycamore Street Designer Series Paper
Stamps: Best of Butterflies
Ink: Baked Brown Sugar
Embellishments: Save the Date Sequins (Teresa Collins)
Tools: Fabulous Frames Die Collection (Papertrey Ink), Hand Lettered Thanks Die (WPlus9), Stampin' Dimensionals

Cupcake Inspirations Challenge 306

Hi there! Hope your weekend is going well! It's time for another lovely color challenge at Cupcake Inspirations! We have a pretty spring color palette for you this week.

This week's sponsor is The Stamping Boutique. I'm playing with the Plant Digital Stamp for my card today.

The DEEtails:

I printed the image twice and water colored the greenery and flowers with those Pearlescent watercolors. The stem is just a piece of Baked Brown Sugar Cardstock that I edged with a Basic Black marker and the pot was colored with a Baked Brown Sugar marker as well. I layered the two plant pieces to make a topiary and adhered it with some Stampin' Dimensionals to a piece of Something Borrowed Designer Series Paper that I had edged with my Stitched Line die. I matted it with some Wild Wasabi Designer Series Paper and adhered to a Sahara Sand card. The sentiment is from Best of Greetings and I stamped it on a little die cut banner. I actually die cut the banner twice and cut the center to layer to appear a little more realistic. Hope you like it!

Paper: Baked Brown Sugar Cardstock, Sahara Sand Cardstock, Something Borrowed Designer Series Paper, Subtles Designer Series Paper Stack
Stamps: Best of Greetings, Plant (The Stamping Boutique)
Ink: Baked Brown Sugar, Basic Black
Embellishments: Pearlescent Watercolor Pan Set (Artist Loft)
Tools: Fabulous Frames Die Collection (Papertrey Ink), Stampin' Dimmensionals

Now check out the rest of our Sweeties' creations over at The Cupcake Inspirations blog, then get out your crafty goodies and play along with us! We can't wait to see what you make with this lovely color inspiration!

Hello There!

Hello, hello! Today I'm playing with this gorgeous inspiration image from The Pink Elephant! Oh my goodness - wood, doilies, pink flowers and a dash of green. I love it all!

Here are the DEEtails:

I watercolored my favorite flowers from Secret Garden after inking them in Smoky Slate. For this one, I carefully painted in each petal, being careful not to let the gray ink run. The color turned out a bit more saturated than I would have liked, since I had to be careful with adding water, but I'm still really happy with how they turned out. I inked in the centers with a Crushed Curry marker. Next I stamped the Hello There sentiment onto my patterned paper and embossed it in white. I layered the paper on a pretty pattern from Eastern Elegance and adhered it to a Kraft card. Then I added a piece of wood tied up with some pretty cotton ribbon - I kind of wish I had made the wood piece thinner, now that I'm looking at it... I layered on a die cut doily and then arranged my flowers and some die cut leaves in a Vellum mason jar. Hope you like it!

Paper: Artist Loft 140# Watercolor Paper, Eastern Elegance Designer Series Paper, In Color 2013-2015 Designer Series Paper Stack, Kiwi Kiss Cardstock, Kraft Cardstock, Lucky Limeade Cardstock, Texture Cuts Wood Sheets, White Vellum Cardstock
Stamps: Hello There, Perfectly Preserved, Secret Garden
Ink: Smoky Slate, Strawberry Slush, VersaMark
Embellishments: Pool Party Cotton Ribbon, White Stampin' Emboss
Tools: Cannery Framelits, Doily Details Die Collection (Papertrey Ink), Secret Garden Thinlits, Stampin' Dimmensionals

Pantone Color Challenge

Hi there! Naki recently found a fun new challenge at Winnie & Walter. I'm always up for a good challenge, so of course I played along. The challenge was to use your own color combination from the Spring 2015 Pantone Colors to create a project. I decided to use Tangerine Orange, Strawberry Ice, and Scuba Blue.

DEEtails:

I struggle to make one layer cards - something about stamping directly onto the card scares me a little. But I stamped away on this card using the the scribbly flower images from Snuggles and Smooches and a bunch of little sequin images from Big Bang Bling. The next best thing to sequins is sequin stamps, right? Who are we kidding? We can't let this card go without some sequins... I added a few stars from Studio Calico and the lovely sentiment die cut from the Scripty Words dies. A few layers of colored cardstock and I was done. What do you think?

Paper: Neenah Solar White 80# Cardstock, Silver Foil Sheets, Strawberry Slush Cardstock, Tangerine Tango Cardstock
Stamps: Big Bang Bling (Winnie & Walter), Snuggles and Smooches
Ink: Strawberry Slush, Tangerine Tango, Tempting Turquoise
Embellishments: Star Sequins (Studio Calico)
Tools: Scripty Words Die Set (Your Next Stamp)

What I Ate in California

The last time I did a food post, friends were worried that my blog had changed to a foodie blog. No worries. We're just taking a food detour today. I'll be back with more cards tomorrow. I didn't take as many photos of what we ate as I usually do on a trip, but I have a few yummies from my trip to California to share with you... Yummmm...

One of our favorite restaurants in San Diego is Top of the Market. We go there every single time we visit the area. The view is gorgeous and the food is absolutely delicious. My step mom ordered scallops - perfection! I opted for some starters - raw oysters and the Smoked Fish Sampler.

Another must visit is Poseidon by the Beach in Del Mar. I love the fact that you are right at the beach and you can visit while you wait. We enjoy sitting outside and feeling the salty breeze as we eat. I love their Calamari sandwich. Obviously, since I forgot to take a photo!

We visited Little Italy and ate at Trattoria Fantastica one afternoon. Another delicious spot! Their pizza bread was to die for. I ate so much I have no idea how I was able to walk back! Hahaha

During our little walk through Little Italy, we made a quick stop at Extraordinary Desserts and boy was I impressed! Everything there is just absolutely gorgeous! I love the little flakes of gold that makes everything look extra special! I'm not very good at photographing these, so you should definitely check out their website. We got a few desserts including the flourless chocolate cake (in the third photo) and they were divine!

Another restaurant we love is Chart House - it's a chain restaurant, so you may have heard of it in other areas... The view is so lovely and I love the openness. I had the seafood cobb salad. It was like a work of art! 

Hands down, our most favorite restaurant in the area or maybe anywhere is Shirahama. My dad is good friends with the owner, so I might be a little biased, but it is the best sushi EVER. Everything there is super fresh and so delicious. He even brought out our Botan Ebi live and wiggling before he prepared it for us to eat. We love this place so much we usually go at least twice!

Hope you've enjoyed all the delicious eats!

Pink and Blue Thank You

Hi there! I'm playing over at the Fusion challenge today. The inspiration they give us each week is just so wonderful I can't resist.

Here are the DEEtails:

I love how the pink flowers in the inspiration image just pop against the blue. Wowzers! I decided to use these lovely flowers from Papertrey's Bigger Blooms. I die cut the blooms and stamped the largest flower in Strawberry Slush. I added them to a little die cut doily and added a few leaves underneath. For the blue, I used a retired color, Brilliant Blue and matted it on some Night of Navy on a Strawberry Slush card with a bit of ribbon sticking out underneath. The die cut sentiment from WPlus9 is just perfect. I absolutely love it! Of course I sprinkled on a few silver sequins inspired by those shiny mirrored accents. Hope you like it!

Paper: Brilliant Blue Cardstock, Lucky Limeade Cardstock, Neenah Solar White 80# Cardstock, Night of Navy Cardstock, Strawberry Slush Cardstock
Stamps: Bigger Blooms (Papertrey Ink)
Ink: Strawberry Slush
Embellishments: Best Year Ever Accessory Pack, Frosted Sequins
Tools: Bigger Blooms Die (Papertrey Ink), Doily Details Die Collection (Papertrey Ink), Hand Lettered Thanks Die (WPlus9), Stampin' Dimmensionals

Watercolor Blooms

Happy Monday! I am so loving my card today, which if kind of interesting because I never use these flowers because I don't really like them... Today I'm playing along with the challenge at Your Next Stamp. This gorgeous image and color combination are fabulous inspiration!

DEEtails:

These flowers are from Secret Garden. The smaller blossom is my usual go to, but I decided to try some watercolors on this daffodil-ish flower. I actually don't really like this image, but am so pleased with the outcome. I found these pearlescent watercolors at the craft store this weekend and was eager to try them out. It's almost a little too pearly, and sometimes gives off a grayish look when adding more color, but overall, it turned out pretty nice. I know you can't tell at all in the photos that they are pearlescent, so you'll just have to trust me. :) I die cut the flowers and layered them over some patterned papers. The ribbon is from Sale-A-Bration last month and I love it how it ties. The Scripty Words die from YNS was a perfect match. Hope you like it!

Paper: Artist's Loft 140# Watercolor Paper, Basic Gray Cardstock, Designer Series Paper Patterns Stack In Color 2011-2013, Sweet Dreams Designer Series Paper
Stamps: Secret Garden
Ink: Versamark
Embellishments: Best Year Ever Accessory Pack
Tools: Pearlescent Watercolor Pan Set (Artist Loft), Scripty Words Die Set (Your Next Stamp), Secret Garden Framelits Dies, Stampin' Dimmensionals

Cupcake Inspirations Challenge 305

Are you ready for a fun new challenge over at Cupcake Inspirations? This week is about all things comic book!

Our sponsor is MyGrafico and this week our team is playing with these adorable Super Kids Stamps by The Digital Bakeshop. 

Here are the DEEtails:

These polka dots scream pop art to me, so I covered my card with them. This was super simple to make. The images from the Super Kids Stamps were printed on polka dot paper and layered. I cut everything out and then adhered it to my card. The buildings are added on with some Stampin' Dimensionals. The sentiment was made with some letter stickers from my stash. Then I added some die cut stars and some sequins. What do you think?

Paper: Basic Black Cardstock, Daffodil Delight Cardstock, Designer Series Paper Patterns Stack - Brights Collection, Designer Series Paper Patterns Stack - Neutrals Collection
Stamps: Super Kids Stamps by The Digital Bakeshop (MyGrafico)
Embellishments: Save the Date Sequins (Teresa Collins)
Tools: Small Sketched Stars Dies (Papertrey Ink), Stampin' Dimmensionals

Now be sure to stop by Cupcake Inspirations to see what the rest of the Sweeties came up with. Then get out your crafty goodies and play along with us!